Frequency controller



Feb. 6, 1951 R. H. RANGER FREQUENCY CONTROLLER Feb. 6, 1951 R. H. RANGER FREQUENCY CONTROLLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1945 /NVEAm-o? Feb. 6, 1951 R. H. RANGER FREQUENCY CONTROLLER 'o' Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 9, 1945 MMU frange of one cycle.

can provide an accurate, stable control in conquency of the controller. -ment referred to above is moved by a motor revwith an accuracy which is controlled by Patented Feb. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES. PATENT oFF-ice I FREQUEN;4;)3lTTROLLER y l 2 Claims.

:any royalty thereon.

The radio spectrum is very crowded. In order to make the maximum use of it, all communication apparatuses must be closely controlled to the frequency at which they are designed to opcrate.

It is an object of this invention to provide a control for a radio frequency oscillator or generator. This control is operative over a wide band of frequencies yet can accurately maintain the controlled apparatus within a frequency Moreover, this controller junction with frequency modulation (FM).

A controller which achieves these objects may consist of a section comprising a crystal-controlled master oscillator whose output may be manually selected to provide frequencies separated for example by intervals of 100 kc. or by 10 kc. There is also provided a selector oscillator whose output is varied by an adjustable element. The frequency outputs of these two oscillators are mixed and provide the output fre- The adjustable elesponsive to any difference in the frequencies of the two oscillators so that the output frequency is effectively and quickly restored to that preselected and set. The master oscillator contains but a single crystal. quencies are selected by utilizing harmonics of the crystal frequency. It is of definite advantage to use but a single crystal.

This invention relates to means for controlling The varying output frethe frequency of radio frequency (RF) voltages.

This device consists essentially of a manually 4controlled oscillator which automatically adjusts itself to'zero beat with any one of the channels of a-crystal-controlled multi-vibrator. This control is afforded by a correcting element such as a condenser automatcally driven from a motor actuated by the beat between the frequency of the. master or controlled oscillator and the multicontroller requires only one crystal but provides all these two hundred (200) operating frequencies the crystal to substantially one cycle.

By means of this frequency control the signal 'output-of the transmitter canrbe amplitude modu- 4dated5 (AM-l, or frequency modulated L-'-'(;FM-)-.=-

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) v The device consists of an oscillator section which is to be controlled, a reference section, and a corrector section. The rst section includes an oscillator tunable from 2 to 4 mc. and a reactance-tube. By variations of the bias on the reactance-tube grid, the frequency of the oscillator can be varied over a small'range. The second or reference section is made upof a kc. crystal-controlled, multi-vibrator type, oscillator locking a 10 kc. blocking type oscillator and a harmonic amplier which ampliiies any desired harmonic of the multi-vibrator in the 2-4 mc. band. The output of the controlled oscillator is mixed with the desired harmonic and the resultant low frequency beat is supplied to the corrector section.

Advantages of my device are the simplicity of the principle involved, the simplicity of the circuits, the compactness and ruggedness, yet the extreme sensitivity, of this frequency correcting mechanism. Its use is possible in such applications as in single-crystal, multi-channel,` push button oscillators or transmitters having any number of channels with any degree of channel separation without having to resort to selecting mechanisms having a high degree of resetability with wear compensation and without the problem of gauging selective RF stages, and w'thout resorting to low-drift circuits.

An important feature of this invention is th provision of a disc-type motor as opposed to a multi-polar motor. Such a motor is similar to a standard, commercial, house-type watt-hour meter but has micro ball bearings making the motor rugged and able to operate equally well in any posit'on. The motor also has field coils to drive the disc and drive mechanism connected to a midget, variable air-gap condenser. The principle of operation is that of the rotating iield of the induction motor. The metallic disc is free to revolve between the pole pieces associated with coils 26 and 2,8 (shown in Fig. '-lC). The `alternating magnetic fluxes from these` pole'p'ieces will establish currents inthe disc. Theimpedances of the motor circuits which include the pairs of coils 26 and 28, respectively, differ in their ratio of reactance to resistance so that there is a phase difference between the eddy currents set up in the disc by -the current passing through these coils. This is clear from the fact that, as

'may be seen from Fig. 1C, each coil 28 has in series with it a resistance, whileeach coil 26 has in series with it a capacitance. Since the E. M. F. generated in a conductor by a flux, which cuts it, is in time quadrature with the iiux, it follows that when the fluxes from coils 26 and 28 are approximately-90 electricalldegrees apart, lthe eddy currentelproduced--in the disc Tay-151184111X 'trampoln 28 will be at a maximum at almost the same instant that the ux from coils 28 is at a maximum and contrariwise, the eddy currents set up in the discr by the fluxes from coils 28 (one quarter period laterl will be at a maximum at almost the same instant that the flux from coils 26 is at a maximum. Thus a torque will be produced which is proportional to the instantaneous product of the eddy currents in the disc and the flux from the pole pieces associated with the coils, through which current is flowing. This torquenis very smooth and uniform in action. The disc is. able to start from any position. A description of such a motor is to be found in Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., seventh edition, page 16.8.

Further objects of this invention will be apparent as this description proceeds. For further expositions ofr my invention reference is hereby tendered to, the annexed drawing and specication at* the end' whereof, the novel' features of the invention are specifically pointed out and' The single figure ofthe drawingis a 'schematic diagram showing; the electric circuit connections and' the mechanical attachments. It is divided intoV three parts, A,v B, and. C', for convenient showing on three sheets.

y Referring to that modication of my invention v'fhici has beenselected from among others for illustration, in the drawings and' description in `the specihcati'on, there is disclosed in Eig. 1B- a vmanually operable switch I' which controls the 100 kc. crystal-controlled oscillator i2 so that it aiordseithera100'1310. or 10 kc. interval in each output. This output is fed through harmonic generator I4' tothe grids, of mixtures la and Ito. (see Fig. 1C). As shown in Fig. 1A, the oscillator whose frequency is to be controlled comprises an oscillation tube 2!) the grid' of' which tube is connectedto reactance tube i8. Dual tube l5 comprises mixer sections Ia and itl). rhe output of tube 2B is applied to the grid cir- `cuit ofi Ita and itl) by means of' phase shifting network 1l'i, i5and.42`,. 46j (shown in Fig.. 1A) and Ithrough terminalsA Z (shown in Figs. 1A and 1C) vso thatthe output from tube lea is out of phase with the output of.' tube Ito. The output from the, reference oscillator l2: is fed through harmonic generator It to bothv grids of tube It so that they outputs appearing in the plate, circuit. of the Ita and lli due to the reference oscillator are in phase. The reference frequency loutput from i4' andv the4 output from the controlledv oscillator 210 mixV in` tube ltato` form a beat note. equal- ,tov` the frequency difference. Likewise the reerene. output. signal frequency and. the controlled oscillator outputfrequency mix` in tube i612) to form afbeat.- note equal toV the, frequency difference. Since there is a` difference in phase in, the, signals introduced. in the grid circuit due t0 the phase. shifting network, it follows that the 4beatnote inthe output of tube ia will be, out of phase-Withthe beat note in outputof tube leb.

vThese beat notes, are, then amplifiedY by respectifve portions. of tube 22 and by the two sec-A tionso outputbeatamplier 2t'. In the plate cir-` 4cuit'` of tubeiZl areconnected pairs of motor coils 2 6and 284 (seefFiga. 1C). Mounted adjacentvthese coils: isthe; aluminum motor disc Sill so that the magnetic fields of thek coils induce eddy currents inf the disc 3S asexplainedabove. The reaction by. the twoields thus: induced drives the discin one. d ectiouorf the other orfholds it. stationary ..aeteeilma.utea Whether ttefmseiet-eellatcr Rotor or disc 3Q which provide. a rugged support therefor and permit this correcting motor to operate efficiently in any position. This motor drives condensers 32, v34, and 3% (see Fig. 1A) in such a direction as to always tune the master or controlled oscillator to zero beat with the reference or crystal controlled oscillator. rihis gives an automatic frequency control employing the motor driven condensers 32, 3ft and 3G in the grid circuit of the electron coupled oscillator. lf the output frequency of this oscillator starts to drift either above or below the selected frequency of the reference oscillator these motordriven ccndensers will automatically turn in the direction to prevent the drift. This correcting mechanism is Very sensitive to small changes of the controlled oscillator frequency. A drift or" this oscillator of 5' cycles above or below the selected frequency of-fthe crystal-controlled multi-Vibrator results inv an approximately 10 degrees revolution of the motor disc 3@ and immediate correction to within approximately l cycle (actually less) of the` fre- `.quency of the reference oscillator.

The drift of the controlled oscillator is within 1 cycle of the drift of the reference 100 kc. crystal` in cycles per second.

The correcting mechanism corrects for 4a change in the controlled oscillator corresponding to-a 30,00 cycle drift each side of the selected reference frequency under normal temperature and line voltage conditions. This is a compensation for adrift of 1.5 per cent at the lowest operating frequency. This amount of compensation, is accomplished by theV automatic capacity change in they controlledoscillator circuit of approximately l per cent. This percentage change at the per-r missiblelow ratio. L/ C circuits of the doubler and' harmonic selector tuned by the same condenser gang with the master oscillator does not aifect the circuit alignmentl suiciently to producea measurabledrop in. RF output.v It is possible with thisunit. to correct for an oscillator drift correa sponding to 1.5 per cent without any change of RF output.

The torque of the correcting motor 2B., 2,8, and (3Q: increases as the beat by the controlled` oscillator and, the reference oscillator approaches zeroand is maximum in theV range from Zero to 5 cycles. This unit. functionsv better for a slow, gradual drift than for a large initial frequency difference.. When the field coils of the motor resonate at approximately 15 cycles then the disc torque isY maximum at approximately zero.

beat. The resonating range of the energizing coils. 2.6. and 28 determines the frequencyv range.`

'laster thanwhen stationary; Since the correct?- ing mechanism can be constructed to be rugged and still besensitive it isenabled to withstand the vibration encountered. in vehicular service.

It.. is possible to shift from FM to AMk type transmission without any noticeable. effect on carrier frequency or output. i

FM, during modulation, the main carrier is kept at the reference frequency.

The correcting mechanism permits reactance tube modulation on an osciilator without the usual disadvantages of oscillator instability due to the unstable characteristics of a reactance tube.

For the purpose of aiding tuning, a neon tube 38 (see Fig. 1A) is connected to a grid circuit of tube i8 and a neon tube 49 ee Fig. 1C) is connected to a plate circuit of tube 24.

The operation of my device is as follows:

Suppose it is desired to set the oscillator to 2530 kc. With the switch i9 in the 100 kc. position the master oscillator 29 is adjusted to the 2500 kc. crystal harmonic. One means of making this adjustment is by manually turning adjustable condenser 44 (see Fig. 1A). When the oscillator is within 10 or 20 cycles of zero beat the neon tube flashes at beat frequency. When the neon tube flashes in this way the setting of the oscillator is satisfactory. The switch Il) is then moved into the 10 kc. position and the controlled oscillator tuned to select the 30 kc. channel. Adjust the output frequency of the selector oscillator until the neon tube flashes to show that the oscillator is close to Zero beat, The oscillator is then set to 530 kc. and will be held there automatically. When it is desired to .set to a new frequency the motor driven condensers 32, 34, and 35 are returned to their center position where the condensers afford the widest range of control. Switch I0 is then afxed so that the blocking oscillator blocks at 100 kc. and the harmonic generator therefore only supplies 100 kc. harmonics. It is then easy to find a desired 100 kc. point. Switch IG is then adjusted and the desired 10 kc. point is selected.

One embodiment of this invention which has given satisfactory results has circuit elements and components having the characteristics listed in the following table.

Legend to circuit diagram Rs, R9, R22, R24, R36, R38, R15-0.1 megohm R10, R11, R16, R17, R24-1 megohm R13, R19, R31, R43-0.25 megohm R20, R21, R27, R42-1,500 ohms R25-40,000 Ohms R25-2,000 ohms Rza-40,000 Ohms R30-50,000 Ohms R32-5,450 ohms R33-31,000 Ohms R40-200 ohms R41-50 ohms `ftd-0.1 megohm potentiometer E46-50,000 ohms, 4 watts R47, Ruz-4,500 ohms R50-0.3 megohm 111-45 turns 1.5" dia. #30 enam. tapped 1A;

and 1/2 L2-23 turns 1.5 dia. #24 enam. tapped @l 1/4 and 3A L3-23 turns 1.5 da. #24 enam.

L4, Le, L7, L10, Lis-2.5 MH RFC L5-54 UH 42 turns 1.25 dia. #26 enam.

Iig-peaking Coil 35 turns, 1.25 dia. #24

y enam.

L11-30 H filter choke.

L11-12 turns 7/8 dia. #16 enam.

L12-(1.52 UH approx.) 9 turns 78 da. #16

enam. tapped 4 turns up from ground.

'T1-double button microphone transformer T2-6.3 v. 3 a., 700 V. c. t. 70 ma. 5 v. 2 a.

I claim:

1. An electrical frequency control system comprising: a reference oscillator circuit; a controlled oscillator circuit including tuning means; phaseshifting means deriving energy from one of the oscillator circuits, these means shifting the phase of the derived energy; first mixing means deriving input from both oscillator circuits for producing a rst beat note having a certain frequency; second mixing means deriving energy from both oscillator circuits but from one of these through the phase-shifting means and producing a second beat note having the same fren quency as, but out-of-phase with, the first beat note; and a multi-phase motor having two sets of motor circuits and responsive to a difference between the frequencies of the two oscillator circuits for operating the tuning means to remove such difference, one set of motor circuits having as its input the rst beat note, while the other set has as its input the second beat note, each set including means for converting its input into two currents out of phase with each other.

2. An electrical frequency control system, as described in claim 1, in which the means for converting the input of each set of motor Circuits include two branch circuits, one branch circuit having a different ratio of reactance to resistance from that of the other branch circuit.

RICHARD H. RANGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,873,842 Hyland Aug. 23, 1932 1,934,000 Bollman Nov. 7, 1933 2,379,689 Crosby July 3, 1935 2,017,894 Cody Oct. 22, 1935 2,041,855 Ohl May 26, 1936 2,151,127 Logan Mar. 21, 1939 2,303,654 Newton Dec. 1, 1942 2,358,454 Goldstine Sept. 19, 1944 2,367,868 Jones Jan. 23, 1945 

